Means for covering cargo hatches and the like



Mgy 15, 1945.

H. l; FRlcK MEANS FOR COVERING CARGO HATCHES AND'THE LIKE lFiled Nov. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i gr.

May l5, 1945. H. E. FRICK 2,376,245

MEANS FOR COVERING CARGO HATCHES AND THE LIKEl Fi1ed Nov. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-sheet 2 Patented May v,15, 1945 UNITED STATE MEANS FOR-COVERING C'ARGOIIATCHES ANDTHE LIKE Henry E. Frick, Upper Montclair, N. J., assignor to TheMetal Lumber Corp Hoboken, N. J.

oration of New Jersey,

.appnaman November 15, 1941, serial-Namaste;

.l 7 Claims.

This invention relates to cargo hatches for vessels and has for its principal object the provision. of means for covering said hatches or similar openings, said means comprising afcover rformed by the assemblage of a plurality of planks made of thin sheet metal ofr which the inner planks are adapted to be interlocked while the outer planks are so constructed as to permit-of their ready removal prior to r`separating the inner planks. 'f f A further object is the production Aof a plank made in two sections of' thin metal, the upper section having anges in the lower end of its side walls adapted to interlock with flanges on 'a bottom wall and tov be tack-welded thereto.

A with a lower wallhaving a flange extending tained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings. d d

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, one preferred form thereof is illustratedin the drawings, this form having been found to give satisfactory and relableresul-ts, althoughv it is to beA understood .that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged 'and organized, and the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described except as required by the scope of the appended claims. Of the drawings: f .Figure 1 represents a cargo hatch having superimposed thereon a cover therefor.

Figure 2 represents a transverse section of the same on line 2, 2 on Fig. 1, the ends ofthe cover planks being in elevation.

Figure 3 represents a transverse section of one of the outer planks formingsaid cover.

Figure 4 represents a 'transverse section of another plank to be used injsaid cover, said plank being adapted to .be disposed with kits left hand side wall against the right hand sidewall of the plank shown in Fig. 3. l

Figure 5 represents a transverse section of another plank adapted to be disposed in ythe as.- semblage of the cover with its left hand side wall interlocking the right hand side wall of the planky shown in Fig. 6. K f

Figure 6 represents a transverse section of one of the inner planksfthe side walls of which are adapted to be interlocked .with each other, Said Plank. being Shswn. 1111s.@ with slaswooh inwardly into va U-shaped flange on said yside wall.

Figure 8 represents a similar detailshowing a modification in which the side Wall ofthe plank is provided with an inwardly extending flange disposed in a. U-shaped'ilange formed integral .with the lower wall of said plank.

Similar characters indicate like parts throughout the several gures of the drawings.

In the drawings, I0, IIl are side Walls of a vcargo hatch having at their upper ends outwardly extending buffer members II.

Between the ends I2 of the hatch opening are removable inverted T-shapedpartitions I3 supported at their opposite ends on the side wa'lls I0 of the hatch in any well known manner.

On the flanges i4 of the partitions I3 rest the inner ends of a pluralityr of hollow planks made up of very thinsheet metal and having diiferent Vcontours of side walls.

The outer ends of some of these planks rest on the end walls Il) of thehatch as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

All of the planks forming the assembled cover are disposed within the coaming formed by the side walls I0.

` On the upper faces of the various planks are designating characters I5 of a color distinctively contras-ting from the color onthe faces of the planks.

These designating characters I5 give the necessary information as to where each plank unit is to be disposed in the assemblage of all of the plank units to form the cover for the hatch.

For instance, -there are two plank units I6 marked A which may be used in the position shown inFig. l of the drawings at the lower left hand corner and upper right hand corner.

Similarly the plank units I1 marked A2 may be used in the upper left hand corner and the lower right hand corner, as shown in` Fig. 1.

Preferably the units A and A2 are curved at their corners as indicated at I'I.

The plank units I'II marked AI are disposed between the T-shaped partitions I3 and at the outer ends thereof (as indicated in said Fig. 1) and the opposite ends of these units I-'lI rest on the flanges. I4 of the partitions I3.

Next to the inner sides of the plank units I6 and I'l marked A, AI and A2 .are the plank units |12 marked "B and BF," all of.

V-shaped projection 20 adapted for insertion i into a V-shaped depression I9 in an adjacent,

plank unit I8.

The plank units I12 marked B are shown in section in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and these plank units I12 have on their inner side walls V-shaped projections 22 adapted foriinsertion into the V- shaped depressions I9 in a side wall of the outer plank unit I8.

These' plank units I12 have an inclined .side wall 23 opposite to the V-shaped projection v22, the .inclination of said wall 23 being upwardly and inwardly toward the center of the assembled cover. ,i

Adapted .to contact with the side wall 23 is Van inclined side wall 24 formed on the outer plank unit IB, I1 or I1I marked either A, A2 or IIAIJ!) v The outer side walls 26 of the plank units I6, I1 and I1I are vertical and parallel with the longitudinalside walls I of the hatch.

Theplank units I6, I1 and I1I at the upper end of Fig. 1 are similar to the units I6, I1 and? I1I at the bottom of said Fig. 1, while the plank units I12 are as shown inFig. 5 of the drawings, each ,unit I12 having an inclined side wall 29 extending lengthwise thereof adapted to contact with` the inclined side wall 24 of a unit I6, I1 or I1I.

Regardless of the contour in cross section of the various plank units each plank unit is made up of an upper section 3U having downwardly extending side walls either inclined as shown in 23, 24 and 29, or provided with V-shaped depres- .r

sions I9 or projections 20, 22.

The lower ends of the side walls ofthe various plank units have inwardly extending anges 3'I disposed in inwardly turned U-shaped fianges 32` formed upon the opposite edges of a bottom wall 32:1: of each plank unit.

The projecting flange 3I and the U-shaped flange 32 are tack-welded together.

This construction is clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, .6 and 8 of the drawings.

' In Fig."1 a modified form of interlocking connection is shown in which the lower end of the side wall 26 is provided with an inwardly turned U-shaped flange 33 in which an inwardly turned flange 34 on the bottom Wall 32x is disposed, these two flanges being tack-welded together.

Within each plank unit and extending the length thereof are two channel irons 35 spaced apart and forming longitudinal chambers in each unit, the flanges 36 of these channel irons being spot-welded to the upper and lower walls of the. plank unit to give great rigidity thereto.

'I'he compartments in each unit are packed with 41A# density slag wool 31, making the units when assembled into an insulated cover .perfectly ree proof.

At the end of each plank unit is a cup-shaped -handle depression 38 having diametrically disposed therein a half oval mild steel handle 39 welded thereto, all as shown in Fig. 7 of Letters Patent No. 2,101,056, issued to applicant Dec. 7, 1937.

The opposite ends of all of the plank units have welded thereto closing plates 40 similar to those shown in Fig. 2 of said Letters Patent No. 2,101,056.

When the various plank units are assembled in the position indicated in Fig. 1 and covering the cargo hatch, the whole cover is very strong and capable of supporting great weight.

At the same time the cover being made up of a pluralty'of plank units, these -plank units can be readily removed by lifting the outer units A, AI, A2 out of position and then disengaging the units BandfBF from the inner units 0, after which all ofthe inner units C may be separated and removed from the hatch opening. In practice `it is designed to have the upper face of each plank unit 12 inches in width.

When the plank units have all been removed fronrthe hatch coaming, the partitions I3 are removed leaving a clear hatch opening of any desired,1 length and width.

, The handles 39 may be grasped by a man's hand or a Vhand-cargo hook may be engaged therewith to remove each plank.

While the plank .units are made of steel they are comparatively'light owing to the thinness `of the steel, but when reenforced by the end plates 40 and the channel irons I 3, these planks arevery rigid and combiningas they do light weight and strength, they are lvery superior to the wooden covers which have in the past been in general use.

When metalplates-such as shown and described in the presentapplication are used to form a cover for a cargo hatch, protection is provided against the spread of fire.

Moreoven the Ydanger of the planks being washed away. in'a .heavy `sea is obviated as such metal planks` will not float.

v Cover planks made of wood often are washed overboard but this objection is overcome by the use of metal planks. Y'

Moreover, itis ob-vious that with a smooth surface of the hatch covers when the various planks are as'sembledthe `life of the canvas tarpaulins orother hatch coverings is greatly prolonged.

V'In many cases vthese metal planks may be substituted for wooden hatch planks without making any' changes in the hatch coamingswhich are installed on the vessel.

' Consequently, these metal planks may be installed on vessels already in service or they may be made in such a manner as toadapt them for any new construction of vessel.

Owing lto the planks being lled with i'lreretardant material ,they serve as lire stops and prevent the spread of fire to other compartments of vessels.

It will be understood that the various joint shoulders ofthe metal planks maybe either spot- Weldedor continuously welded as the particular case'may require. L

Owing to thelight weight of the planks they are easyto handle4 and vmay be manufactured with comparatively little expense.

It is believed the many advantagesof the invention vwill bejunderstood without further description; j

Having described my'inventiom I claim:

1. A hatch cover built :up of ,a plurality of holllow planks of thin sheet metal all o f which have vertical closures" at their opposite ends, the inner planks being( provided with ,interlocking 4means and thetwoouter planks at one side of said cover having adjacent sides inclined from top to bottom lbottom and contacting with each other, the outermost of said two outer planks having an edge face disposed at right angles to the horizontal plane of said plank.

3. A hatch covervas set forth in claim l in which said contacting inclined sides of the two` outer planks extend upwardly and toward the center of the assembled cover. l

4. A hatch cover asset forth in claim l in which the inner planks have in the side walls thereof means for interlockingv two adjacent planks andthe plank next to theouter plankhaving`in one longitudinal side a depression to receive a projection on an adjacent inner plankA and provided on itsopposite side with a flat wall* inclined from top to bottom towards the center of the hatch and contacting with a complementary inclinedwall of the adjacent outer plank.

5. A hatch cover as set forth in vclaim l in which each of the inner planks has a V-shaped extension in one side Wall thereof extending into a V-shapedl depression in the side wall of an adjacent plank and the plank next to the outer plank having in one longitudinal side a depression to receive a projection on an adjacent inner plank and provided on its opposite side with a flat Wall inclined from bottom to top towards the center of the hatch and contacting with a complementary inclinedwall of the adjacent outer plank.

6. A hatch cover as set forth in claim 1 in which each outer plank has a vertical side wall and an opposite sidewall inclined from bottom to top upwardly and towards the center of the cover in Contact with a complementary inclined wall of an adjacent inner plank.

'7. A hatch cover as set forth in claim 1 in which the plank adjacent the outer plank has a V-shaped extension in one wall and its opposite wall is inclined upwardly from bottom to top and toward the center of the cover said inclined wall contacting with a complementary inclined wall of an outer plank.

HENRY E. FRICK. 

